Hazare says he will meet Sonia on Thursday

As part of his outreach to political parties on lokpal bill, Anna Hazare on Tuesday said he would meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Thursday.

Hazare said he would be meeting all party Presidents, including Gandhi, from tomorrow.

Asked why was he going to meet Gandhi when Congress was opposed to his agitation, Hazare told reporters here "it was part of the democratic process in our discussions."

To a question, the social activist refuted reports that the recent letter sent by Gandhi, in reply to his communication, was terse in its tone and tenor and defamatory, and said she had not written "anything bad".

Asked whether his letters to the Congress chief reflected his faith in her, Hazare laughed and quipped "if it was so, I would have met her regularly."

Asked whether Prime Minster Manmohan Singh was "afraid" of his office being covered by the lokpal, the veteran social activist said "Manmohan Singh is not afraid. But there is a remote control!"

Hazare said he would not hesitate to fight against those opposition parties which did not support a strong anti-corruption ombudsman.

"If they are not ready to support our major demands for a strong lokpal Bill, including bringing Prime Minister within the ambit of the lokpal, we shall wage a fight against opposition parties along with the ruling Congress," he said.

Hazare said this when asked what would be the stand of civil society led by him if during his parleys with the leaders of the opposition parties failed to endorse the inclusion of the Prime Minister in the purview of the lokpal, as advocated by "Team Anna".